Tuesday, January 28, 2014

What are our responsibilities to each other when we blog? Do we have responsibilities to others when we communicate?

These questions often surprise those who begin to blog or to write for themselves. We think of blogging like diary writing, that somehow we are writing only for our own enjoyment. The technology of the Internet lulls us into a false sense of security and privacy. As we surf or write or use a website, we feel as if we are in our own little bubble world, safe from outsiders we do not know, safe from criticism, safe from others' points-of-view.But once we begin to receive responses from others, we come to understand that blogging is a form of OUTWARD communication, not INWARD. Blogging means reaching out to others in cyberspace who do not know us, who have not met us, yet still, somehow, find us.Blogs illustrate how communication, in all forms, works. Eventually, in whatever form we choose, communication meets another (or is it "an 'Other'"?), and so begins a relationship. We hope that the relationship once established develops into one of mutual respect and personal growth. We hope that listening to others' ideas, sharing our own ideas, and using argument, persuasion, and analysis, will lead us to a greater, better, more insightful, SELF. Ultimately, that is what blogs are meant to do.